Staff report

Beaumont-Port Arthur, beset with flu cases for the past month, nonetheless made a rapid rise in a pharmaceutical company’s national measure of flu cases.

Walgreens designated market area of Beaumont-Port Arthur ranked No. 3 in the U.S. for flu activity, based on the company’s Flu Index, which uses weekly prescription data.

According to Walgreens’ accounting, seven of the top eight DMAs in the U.S. were in Texas, led by Corpus Christi and Waco-Temple-Bryan. Last week, all top 10 markets for flu cases were in Texas, but Knoxville, Tennessee ranked No. 6 this week.

Beaumont-Port Arthur also ranked No. 10 among markets with “flu activity gains,” according to Walgreens. Other Texas markets in the top 10 were No. 1 El Paso-Las Cruces, New Mexico; No. 2 Corpus Christi; and No. 9 Waco-Temple-Bryan.

Texas ranked No. 4 among states with flu activity gains.

Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreens says the index does not measure flu levels or severity, but suggests areas most affected by flu.